Conor Garland scores in overtime to lift Canucks over the Kings
Conor Garland scored his second goal of the game at 4:28 of overtime to give the Vancouver Canucks a 3-2 victory over the Kings on Wednesday night.
Garland — who had a power-play goal in the second period — lofted a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle under the blocker of goalie David Rittich for his 16th goal of the season.
Nils Hoglander also scored and Kevin Lankinen stopped 24 shots to help the Canucks move past Calgary into the second wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
Adrian Kempe and Warren Foegele scored in the third period for the Kings, who trailed 2-0 after two periods. Rittich made 14 saves.
Hoglander skated through the Kings' defense and put a wrist shot over Rittich's glove to put Vancouver on top midway through the first period.
Takeaways
Canucks: Star defenseman Quinn Hughes returned to the lineup after missing six games because of an undisclosed injury. Hughes, who leads Vancouver with 59 points, had an assist on the winning goal and had nearly 22 minutes of ice time.
Kings: Defenseman Drew Doughty missed the game due to a lower-body injury. Doughty had four points in eight games after missing the first 47 games after breaking his left ankle during the preseason.
Key moment
Foegele tied it at 2 with 5:59 left in the third when he deflected Jordan Spence's shot past Lankinen. The goal was reviewed by replay for potential goalie interference, but it was determined none had occurred.
Key stat
The Kings are fifth in the NHL with a plus-17 goal differential in the third period, outscoring opponents 71-54.
Up next
The Canucks remain in Southern California to face the Ducks on Thursday night. The Kings are at Dallas on Friday night.
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It's a notable silver lining in what's been a trying, difficult year for the Vancouver Canucks franchise. On Friday night, the Abbotsford Canucks, Vancouver's American League affiliate and top minor league club, will face a buzzsaw Charlotte Checkers in the franchise's first-ever appearance in the Calder Cup Finals. Advertisement The Checkers, who advanced to the finals in just 10 total games, have home ice advantage in the series and are narrowly favoured to win in the outright markets. To do it, though, they'll have to defeat an overachieving, hard-working, deep and well-coached Abbotsford that's been building toward this moment patiently and with discipline since relocating from Utica, N.Y., to the Fraser Valley in the spring of 2021. How did Abbotsford get here? How did Manny Malhotra pull this off in his first season as a professional head coach? And what comes next for some of the best young players on this team? Let's open the notebook and set up the Calder Cup Finals. 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